Today we’d like to introduce you to Mallory McAdams, Lonnie Shields, Jesse Johnson, and Marisa Saltzgiver.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mallory, Lonnie, Jesse, and Marisa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The Roommates unknowingly began to form circa 2009. The two founding members, Mallory McAdams, and Lonnie Shields met in college due to a mutual friend of theirs commenting: “Hey, you should really jam with each other!” Being the type of musicians we are, we hear that line all the time but never really expect much to come out of it. But when we finally got together and played music for the first time, we immediately realized we were meant to cross paths. We had an instant musical connection unlike any other we had ever had with anyone else. We would then at that time play our favorite songs we would hear on the radio or the songs that Mallory wrote in high school or her earlier years in college. One night while playing, we created a random chord progression on the guitar that would eventually turn into one of The Roommates first original songs together called “Company.” Little did we ever know, that song would later become iconic for The Roommates, and we were tapping into something that was going to be much bigger for us years down the line. We both moved to Dallas in 2011 and become roommates a year later (hence the name of the band).
After moving to Dallas, we continued playing music just for fun but never thought it would turn into anything more because we became pretty overwhelmed with the “real world” after college. We were trying our best to fit the mold of finding a “real” job with a 401k instead of pursuing our real talents. We continued to play for our friends casually at house parties. In 2015, we had some friends playing a show at State and Allen in Uptown, and they reached out to us to see if we were interested in playing as well. We followed through but talk about being nervous! That show was the start to us playing shows at dive bars on lower Greenville Ave. About a year in, we played a show at a bar in Richardson called Richardson Bar and Grill. We packed out a small room in the back and created quite a bit of buzz.
A few days after that show, we get a message from a band in Dallas stating some of their friends saw us play at RBG (and that Lonnie resembled the guitarist in their band- Jesse) and they would love for us to come play during their breaks at their show at Sue Ellen’s in a few months. We agreed and had so much fun playing that show with them, they asked us to come back and play a show there again as their guitarist, Jesse, was celebrating her birthday. Between those two shows, Jesse becomes a friend of ours and the connection between her and what we were doing forms an unspoken bond. After that show, The Roommates took a small break during that time as it was interfering with Mallory’s job – she was coaching Women’s College Basketball at UT Dallas at this time. Simultaneously during this time, Jesse was taking a break from music as well and had decided to part ways with the band she had been performing with.
A couple months later, we were ready to get back into the swing of music because basketball season had ended. We heard that Jesse was now a “free-agent” in the music world, so we reached out to her to see if she wanted to join The Roommates at a show just for fun because we had such a strong connection with her at the previous shows we had collaborated with. Without hesitation, Jesse agreed and that one show turned into her never leaving our side again. We knew we were onto something when each of our unique talents came together- We could read each other’s minds, and we would fall into songs so naturally. We could feel it deep down that this was right- this was something we needed to do together. During the summer of 2017, we were then playing shows at a bar called The Ivy. Our friend Wiley Oliver hooked us up with a guy named Jeff Schattle, who books shows around Dallas. At that point and time, we were starting to grow frustrated and bored with playing only cover songs and began to hit a plateau. Mal, at this time, started writing more original music and we started incorporating more of our originals into our shows at The Ivy. Even if Jesse and Lonnie had never heard them, we would still play through them at our shows just freestyling as it would be our first time to hear any of these songs. Later that summer, Mal and Jesse got together one afternoon to experiment with what some of her songs would sound like in a full band setting. Jesse then reached out to her last band’s drummer, Marisa, to join the jam session as well. At this time, something clicked in everybody’s head that okay, something has to change now – We have our own message and sound that we want to share with people – enough of the cover songs. Jesse brought Marisa in to play drums full time and Lonnie moved to bass guitar where we created a full, 4-piece band.
Now that we were a full-band set, we let our friend and booking agent Jeff Schattle know that we wanted to pursue full band shows. Not even a day later he reached out and said, “I know you would only have two weeks to prepare, but I have a show that you can jump in on at Curtain Club in Deep Ellum on December 1st.” No lie, we were very hesitant because this was one hell of a jump and a tight time frame for us to prepare a completely original, full-band set. But Mallory, being positive and believing in all of us, hyped it up in all of us that we could do this. So for the next two weeks, we practiced 2-3 times a week. We did what we needed to do to prepare and make it happen! Many five-hour practices in that cold warehouse to prepare… December 1st, 2017 rolls around and it’s show time. We are the second band to go on that night. We tell our friends and sure enough, the place was packed. We were blown away by their support that night – the energy they were feeding us on stage was overwhelming! When we finished our set that night, we all agreed that this is what we were supposed to be doing all along. This was our “Aha!” moment.
We all knew that this was the true beginning of something that would change our lives forever. Our second show that Jeff asked us to play was at the iconic Trees Dallas in Deep Ellum where some of us have seen some of our favorite bands play at over the years. After that show, everything took off with people reaching out to us wanting to collaborate for shows and the networking began. Since late 2017, The Roommates frequent many venues in Deep Ellum and greater Dallas area, including: The Curtain Club, Trees-Dallas, House of Blues-Dallas, The Prophet Bar, Witts End, Double Wide, etc. The number of friends we have made from bands and just the people who have helped us along the way- We couldn’t be more thankful for them!!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the music industry, I don’t think it will ever be smooth. There are many obstacles that a band must overcome especially when you have four very unique individuals getting together to create something beautiful. Learning how to work together as one, especially when something doesn’t click, was one major obstacle that we had to work through. Scheduling practice time while everyone holds down a full-time job isn’t easy as well. We finally then got everyone in the band to dedicate their Sunday as a practice day and nothing else unless we had a show a few days before. But each out our personalities come out when needed and it’s definitely reflected in our music. Some of our fans absolute favorite song could be the one song that took us forever as a band to create and we possibly wanted to rip each other head off composing the song. It took quite some time to learn each other’s language, and it is something that is still a work in progress.
We’d love to hear more about your group.
The Roommates are a Dallas-based, all-female indie rock band that burst onto the music scene in late 2017. This heavy-hitting quartet leaves nothing on the table, combining powerful vocals and airy guitar solos with emotional and dark undertones, serving the listener a strong dose of tour de force. Believing that music is its own language and emotion, this is no hobby for these ladies, but more so a form of essential life therapy in which they have opened themselves up for others to witness, partake and share in.
What we are most proud of is how each of us literally, at the drop of a dime, put 100% into something that we knew nothing about and formed something beautiful. The love for music that each of us has and how it takes over our lives on a daily basis, we believe, sets us apart compared to others. I know it sounds cliché when people say “music saved my life,” but us forming this band has been life changing for all of us. It has brought us closer together to the point that we have turned into a family – we have a bond that is special and rare. We have grown so much as individuals outside of music and honestly, we have each other to thank for that. We are proud of the sacrifices that each of us have made as for somebody like me (Lonnie) who doesn’t like change at all, found a way that I could accept the fact that this band and our music was now taking over my life and I’m not mad at all about it. We are also proud to unapologetically be ourselves. We are proud that we are not the “normal” male-dominated band – We hope to inspire ALL people around us to NEVER be afraid of who you are. Be proud and speak your truth.
Also, this band and creating music together is literally a form of therapy for us. That is the number one goal for us – to get together and release the tensions and frustrations of life built up inside our soul. We have all come to the realization that music plays a huge role in our self-expression and how we process life in general. The end goal here is not to become famous rock stars. We are not chasing awards, money, or notoriety. We are chasing the euphoric and untouchable feeling that only music can conjure within each of us. We are purposefully pushing the boundaries, purposefully not fitting into any specific mold to directly challenge our societal norms. We want to be proof that most of our societal concepts of success are false, that success is found when you are tapping into your true self – And we hope our message connects and sparks that same emotion within our listeners.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, we were all drawn to music at a young age, and we all were surrounded by music in some form. Each of us picked up an instrument from an early age, whether it be from a family member or friend giving us an instrument. We could give you some big spill on what all we were involved in growing up and stuff, but that honestly doesn’t really matter to us at this point. This is what we would like to share about growing up:
Lonnie and Mallory both grew up in small towns near Waco, Tx. This would prove to be a huge influence on the passionate message within their music. While there are many incredible benefits to growing up in a small town, there are some very damaging and ignorant aspects of growing up in small, conservative and religion-dominated area if you do not fit the exact mold everyone else is in around you. Clearly, we are gay. This was something incredibly difficult that each of us had to maneuver through alone, inside our vulnerable minds while growing up. Announcing to your peers that you are gay isn’t the most accepting thing to share in the Bible Belt, especially back in the late 90’s early 2000s. Honestly, it wasn’t until the last two to three years that we have become aware of how emotionally damaging it is to grow up in that sort of environment. As happy as most of our childhoods seemed to be, all of that very much hangs in the shadow of the bigger monster that was looming down on our young minds. Don’t get us wrong, we are all fine and have a great love for our families and hometowns. We are extremely thankful for the support and acceptance we have received over the years from many family members and friends alike. But this is definitely something we MUST talk about, and that we will NOT shy away from. We were subliminally forced into a corner, made to feel gross and immoral, and forced into silence for too long – but we understand that now. And while we may have come so far in our own journey in accepting ourselves, that era of our lives is a huge underlying drive into what we do and our overall message. Again, we want to be bold, unapologetic, and intense in order to show everyone around us that there is nothing wrong with meeting your oppressor head-on, eye-to-eye, when you know you are doing the right thing. When I am on stage, screaming my heart out, I know that there is a huge part of that scared, unsure little girl breaking free and screaming her truth.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 254-644-9885
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theroommates254/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRoommates254/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theroommates254
- Other: https://theroommatesmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
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